MoreCheese

The Best Wheat Bread

I made my first wheat bread this weekend, and even though I probably didn't let it rise long enough, and I probably messed up the kneading a little bit, it was still incredibly good!  It turned out dense and crumbly, slightly chewy - so you get a good mouth feel.  There's a faint aroma and taste of the honey that goes in it, and the crust turns a lovely golden brown from the light brushing of butter it receives at the very last minute.  My favorite thing for breakfast lately has been a good hunk of this bread, warmed up in the toaster, with butter and berry preserves.  

Oh, and if you have more bread than loaf pans?  You can bake it in a stainless steel pot!  I learned that from Luisa Weise, when I tried the No-Knead Bread recipe on her blog (which was very good with white flour, not so good with whole wheat flour.  Hence, I moved on.)  I haven't tried the loaf from the pot yet... so I'll let you know if something awful happened to it, but it looked just as good as the other loaves when I took them out of their pans.

This wheat bread recipe is from AllRecipes.com.  Its the first I've tried from that site, but I think I'll be going back for more!  I've inserted some notes into the recipe, which was a little low on detail.  Enjoy!

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

 INGREDIENTS

3  cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) (I ran the tap on hot and found it barely reached 110 degrees, so I added a bit of water from the kettle)

2  (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

2/3 cup honey - separated into two 1/3 cups

5 cups bread flour (you can mix white and whole wheat flour here, or use all white flour)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon salt

3  1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

  

DIRECTIONS

1.   In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey.

2.    Add 5 cups bread flour, and stir to combine.

3.    Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

4.    Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt.

5.    Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour.  The flour will be sticky and hard to stir, but just keep at it.

6.    Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour.  (I only added 1 additional cup of flour while kneading, and it was more than enough.)

7.    Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.  (Approximately 3 hours)

8.    Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.  (I only let it rise for 15 minutes as we were going out.  Next time I will let it rise for an hour or so.)

9.    Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake.

10.  Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely.

Bon appetit!!!

Saturday afternoons

Yesterday afternoon.  My kitchen.  A feeling of contentedness.  Yesterday I realized how therapeutic cooking is for me.

I was making a dinner for R* and I, and I needed it to be fairly simple because we had tickets for the symphony.  (We never made it... more on that later.)  So I bought two lean steaks and prepared to steam some artichokes.  But for a fun little side adventure, I decided to make my first aioli. 

It was lovely, I have to admit.  I started by making a fresh mayonnaise with a recipe from the Alice Waters book, then thinned it out and added raw garlic, crushed and liquidey thanks to a pestle and some sea salt, and some fresh lemon and a touch of parsley.  We dipped the steamed artichoke leaves in it, and oh yes, it was as good as it sounds.  However; now that I know how aioli (and mayonnaise) is made -- using primarily one egg yolk and an ungodly amount of olive oil -- I don't think I'm likely to ever eat it again!!!  So it was a good first and last aioli, lets put it that way.

But yesterday's kitchen therapy was less about the aioli, and more about the whole creative process: making the aioli, baking my first wheat bread, and putting together a menu for tonight's dinner with Dad.  I created a huge mess in the kitchen, and at one point stopped long enough to survey it and break out my camera, because the whole scene brought me such a feeling of satisfaction and happiness.

Cookbook and laptop for browsing recipes.  Bread rising in loaf pans and pot (did you know you could bake bread in a pot?  More on that later.)  A little blue glass of red wine, because why not on a Saturday afternoon?  Random ingredients set out for tomorrow night's dinner.  Using a pestle to mash garlic; squeezing fresh lemon juice with my fingers; whisking oil into egg yolk; tasting and seasoning.

Sigh.  Utter contentment.  What a lovely afternoon.

In Memoriam

We love you and we'll miss you, Obachama.